Mouse poo profit nothing to sniff at

Stephen Leisk, who manages DoLittle Farm at "Oxenthorpe", Molong, runs 40,000 mice for the pet snake food industry.

But during the last drought he started putting the shavings from the bottom of the mouse cages behind the mouse shed - and accidently stumbled across a new value-add for his business: mouse poo compost.

He found the area with the shavings, which included mouse poo and urine, was green and lush, while everything else was still dry.

Mr Leisk began experimenting, putting the broken down cage shavings onto different parts of his garden.

He said his roses grew seven feet tall and he hasn't had to use any other products on them, such as white oil, to keep any bugs away.

"It all happened by accident, we put the shavings out the back of the shed in the drought," Mr Leisk said.

"There was nothing growing about one metre from the pile, and where the poo was it was lush green grass and I drove over it and it was black underneath, and that was in the middle of the drought."

Now he gathers the shavings and said after four to six months they turn to dark-looking compost and after 12 months it was dark black soil, which was the point he put it into feed bags (to recycle them) and sold it to the public as mouse poo compost.

"There are no seeds in it at all, it's just the cage shavings with the mouse poo and urine in it."

He said one third of the product was organic material, and he theorised that it was different to cattle and sheep manure as mice were mono-gastric animals.

"You have a high energy animal on high energy food and that translates into high energy compost, so when it's put onto plants, the plants get high energy input and grow."

He said the ready compost produce could also hold its own weight in water.

"You are getting that in the soil, water saving crystals have nothing compared with what nature can do."

He said water could also be added to the compost and the run-off caught and used as liquid fertiliser.

Mr Leisk has been selling the compost for eight to nine years, but has been making it and using it himself for about 10 years.

He has managed the mouse farm for 11 years.